Port development

The existing function of an important Offshore service port for the extraction of oil and gas in the North Sea will switch between now and 2030 to a sustainable offshore logistics port for the extraction of renewable energy in the North Sea.

From offshore service port to a sustainable offshore logistics port

2020 - 2030

The development that is required for this takes place along the following three vectors:

Vector 1. From maintenance hub in oil and gas extraction to maintenance hub for renewable energy extraction in the North Sea;

Vector 2. From energy hub of North Sea gas to energy hub for hydrogen;

Vector 3. From clean ECOPort to Climate neutral chain.

Development towards maintenance hub for Offshore Wind.

Vector 1

This vector is aimed at the development of quay space and port infrastructure in the seaport in order to facilitate the maintenance of offshore wind farms. The need is to eventually realize a total of 6 ha of quay space in the seaport, directly adjacent to water. This need is substantiated in a quantitative analysis ECN / TNO (please download the report below).

The strategy to realize this need is detailed in the Roadmap of Port of Den Helder (Please download our roadmap below).

The Roadmap indicates which areas in the port can be developed for which purpose. The strategy is based on two principles: “

(1) Infringement for extension. The golden rule applies as a "Wadden harbor" that expansion can only be considered when all space in the port is used optimally. An extension of the port must then be realized along the road of “Building with Nature” so that the economy and ecology remain in balance.

(2) Civil-military cooperation. The joint use of the port by the Offshore and the Royal Navy means that it cannot be developed without civil-military cooperation. This collaboration has been designed under the name Spatial-Strategic Exploration for the Maritime Cluster Den Helder. The Province, Municipality and Royal Navy are the client. The Roadmap of Port of Den Helder is included in this exploration.

On the page asset management (go to page below) you will find an overview of the projects that are currently in execution or preparation.

Development towards Energy hub for Hydrogen

Vector 2

This vector focuses on the development of the infrastructure required for the transition of our port from North Sea gas hub to Hydrogen hub. The strategy aims to realize a landing point in Den Helder for a substantial part of the green hydrogen production at sea. To this end, Den Helder must be connected to the hydrogen backbone that Gasunie intends to realize as a central loop to connect all major industrial clusters in the Netherlands to hydrogen. The large-scale production of green hydrogen at sea is expected to be a reality from 2030 onwards.

On the way there, two important hydrogen initiatives are being realized in Port of Den Helder:

(1) The realization of a green hydrogen filling station at Kooyhaven. The hydrogen for this filling station is produced locally by electrolysis of green electricity, from the network. With this initiative, Port of Den Helder aims to facilitate zero-emission mobility on road and water by 2022. The project includes a sailing demonstration vessel that is propelled entirely zero hydrogen emissions. This vessel is being tested by a pool of port users.

(2) The realization of a blue hydrogen production facility on Oostoever. The production of blue hydrogen takes place on the NAM plant. Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, whereby the released CO2 is captured and stored in the empty gas fields under the North Sea (CCS). This project is a strategic building block in the upscaling of the large-scale use of hydrogen in the process industry and energy generation.

Development towards a climate neutral port chain

Vector 3

This vector focuses on the further sustainability of the port. The ambition is to have the Port Authority's business operations, climate-neutral by 2025. But the ambition goes further and aims for a completely climate neutral port chain by 2050. These ambitions and the way how, are described in the Ambition Document Sustainability - Port of Den Helder (please download the report below).

Each year, an action plan with concrete projects is determined on the basis of the ambitions and these performance areas. A selection of these sustainability projects is included under the heading Asset Management Projects (Please go to page below)